The road ahead -|Josh Halmmann|-

[K0ZZ]

Bill Snyder retires

Bill Snyder officially has called it quits, stating age and wanting to spend his remaining years with his family. Snyder has turned around Kansas State which has been largely just an afterthought in the Big 12. The Wildcats turned to Texas Tech offensive coordinator, Neal Brown to take over. The Wildcats were bested by the Red Raiders earlier in the season in a game that could've been a scouting performance by the athletic director.

"I will pick up where Bill left off. In honor of his achievements, a national title is reasonable goal" Spoke Neal Brown.


In other news,

Mario Cristobal has signed on with Nevada to be the new head coach of the program that has produced NFL players such as Colin Kapernick. FIU had a solid season this season under Cristobal whom took a step out of the Sunbelt.]

[K0ZZ]

Other coaching news

- Hires Mark Hudspeth of UL-Lafayette

- Hires Tony Franklin (OC) of Louisiana Tech

[Icy4me]

Wow, what a crazy national championship! Although I hate both of those schools, I'm glad Wisconsin won over FSU!

Good luck on next season!

[K0ZZ]

Quote: Originally Posted by Icy4me

Wow, what a crazy national championship! Although I hate both of those schools, I'm glad Wisconsin won over FSU! Good luck on next season!

I kept waiting for Florida State to get leapfrogged but they never did, definitely was an off year.

Thanks man, hopefully this recruiting class gets rounded out and the Vandals can get going in the right direction.

[K0ZZ]

Top Recruiting Classes - 2012
RK	TEAM	5	4	3	2	1	TOTAL
1	Notre Dame	6	6	10	0	0	22
2	Alabama	4	12	3	0	0	19
3	Michigan	4	8	6	1	1	20
4	Oklahoma	0	13	12	0	0	25
5	USC	3	4	14	3	0	24
6	Georgia	4	5	7	2	0	18
7	Tennessee	0	11	10	2	1	24
8	Penn State	0	10	12	1	2	25
9	Florida State	3	1	16	3	0	23
10	Michigan State	0	6	18	1	0	25
11	Virginia Tech	1	7	11	2	1	22
12	Florida	3	4	10	0	1	18
13	South Carolina	0	9	11	1	2	23
14	Nebraska	1	6	13	2	0	22
15	Wisconsin	1	5	15	0	0	21
16	Baylor	0	5	18	2	0	25
17	Arkansas	1	7	10	2	0	20
18	Georgia Tech	0	5	17	2	1	25
19	Ohio State	1	6	12	0	0	19
20	Boise State	0	6	14	3	0	23
21	LSU	1	8	6	1	2	18
22	Kansas State	0	5	15	4	0	24
23	Oregon	1	5	12	1	1	20
24	North Carolina	0	4	17	3	1	25
25	West Virginia	0	4	17	2	0	23

Top Recruits
Casey Irby (QB) Taylorsville-Bennion, Utah
USC Trojans
Larry Jackson (HB) Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Eric Williams (WR) Fremont, California
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Clay Wright (TE) Laurel, MD
Alabama Crimson Tide
Jermaine Webb (T) North Lauderdale, FL
Florida Gators
Reggie Temple (G) Williamstown, WV
Virginia Tech Hokies
Todd Watkins (C) Dillon, Montana
Florida Gators

Justin Williamson (DE) Carnot-Moon, PA
LSU Tigers
Maurice Mullins (DT) Trenton, NJ
Alabama Crimson Tide
Eddie Mixon (OLB) Fair Oaks, GA
Alabama Crimson Tide
Rob Garcia (MLB) Westland, MI
Michigan Wolverines
Gordon Kelly (CB) Norwood, OH
Michigan State Spartans
Mark Gordon (FS) San Diego, CA
Baylor Bears
Monte Clark (SS) West End-Cobb, AL
Arizona Wildcats

[mpejkrm]

Solid solid first season, hope for an improvement next year.

[K0ZZ]

Operation TBI

Fresh on the Vandals athletic page preceding the official signing day proceedings was Operation TBI, Take Back Idaho. The Vandals are largely a second thought, especially in the national sense when the Broncos with their famous 'smurf turf' took the nation by storm culminating in the Fiesta Bowl victory over the Sooners. The Vandals look to start climbing towards national recognition but it's going to take a strong push within their home state to steal the 'BCS Buster' throne from the Broncos.

With a strong focal point placed upon recruiting their home state, joining only UNLV to have multiple Idaho recruits. Boise State only added one local talent to their roster through recruiting. In a state with a small talent pool, Idaho recruiting four players from a locality will be a boost to garner state respect.

Idaho Vandals Recruiting - 2012
NAME	POS	CLASS	HOMETOWN	HT	WT	CALIBER
Ryan Jacobs	DT	HS	Yeadon, PA	6'2	275
Al Spencer	WR	HS	Homestead, FL	6'2	194
Van Cotton	ATH	HS	Wagoner, OK	6'7	230
Chris Brewer	ATH	HS	Kingston, PA	6'4	300
Steven Bennett	OLB	HS	Cedar Falls, IA	6'3	226
Nick Ball	DE	HS	Napili-Honokowai, HI	6'6	240
Josh McNeal	CB	HS	Washington D.C.	6'1	199
Jon Haumiller	CB	HS	Salmon, ID	6'1	188
Josh Hines	MLB	HS	Gainesville, TX	6'2	228
Phillip Cobbs	SS	HS	Blackfoot, ID	6'0	212
Corey Gilmore	QB	HS	Visalia, CA	6'1	202
Dallas Malone	DE	HS	Macon, GA	6'4	262
Mike Guidry	OLB	HS	Meridian, ID	6'1	226
Kevin Owens	DE	HS	Spring Valley, CA	6'0	240
Andy Keller	WR	HS	Clinton, UT	6'3	213
Matthew Cooke	C	HS	Idaho Falls, ID	6'3	277
Chris Espinosa	QB	JUCO Jr	Huntington Park, CA	5'11	183
Blake Parrish	MLB	HS	Alva, OK	6'1	213
Clint Little	OLB	HS	Louisville, KY	6'3	229
Mark Ford	T	HS	Buckeye, AZ	6'7	307
Scott Johnson	HB	HS	Paine Field, WA	6'0	201
Robert Hopkins	FB	HS	Belvedere Park, GA	6'0	266
David Burke	P	HS	Bay City, TX	5'10	205
Corey Allen	K	HS	Norwalk, CA	5'11	205

With the recruiting class officially revealed, expect to her a lot of Van Cotton and Ryan Jacobs during fall camp. Ryan Jacobs has fans excited and coaching staff says he has a legitimate opportunity to be the favorite for a starting job come the 2013 season. As for Van Cotton, the athlete has terrific size and ball skills to play on both sides of the ball. Once he gets sorted out in fall camp, expect the freshman to make a play for a starting job.

Joining the potential starter list is Chris Espinosa. The quarterback will enter a three way battle for the starting job joining Taylor Davis and Dominique Blackman in a head to head to head for the starting job. Espinosa is slightly faster than Blackman while significantly more accurate and adept at breaking tackles. His arm strength and accuracy are less so than Taylor Davis but not as much as the difference from Davis to Blackman.

Robert Hopkins is a guaranteed starter, given his status as the only fullback on the roster. He has amazing speed for the fullback spot but his blocking skills are average. The Vandals used a fullback in minimal usage last year but that could change with the addition of Hopkins.

With three defensive ends signed, the likelihood of one of them starting is fairly likely, the favorite is Dallas Malone, the freshman from Georgia has the best body size with 262 lbs, with good height at 6'4.

Josh Hines could see significant playing time in the 3-4 sets as the second interior linebacker. With terrific speed and excellent block shedding ability expect to see him on the blitz a lot. His football knowledge will need to be increased as he develops his skillset throughout college it is by far the weakest point of the Gainesville (Texas) native.

Finally, expect Phillip Cobbs to make a play to start somewhere in the secondary. Coaches were extremely impressed with the workouts he turned in and also by his abilities while playing in high school. He could be one of the better signings of this class if his skills convert well to the FBS level.

When it was all said and done, the Vandals turned in the second best recruiting class in the WAC, behind only incumbent champions, Montana State. Their attempt at taking back Idaho established a solid foothold by recruiting native sons. Continuing to till the Idaho fields while also starting to turn in some more wins will be the next step towards a competitive and consistent Vandal squad.

[K0ZZ]

Spring Camp News

Wideout, Devon Blackmon has officially transferred to the University of Idaho. Following a small fallout with Chip Kelly, the than freshman wide out decided to explore abroad where he could go. Finding an ideal situation in Idaho, he asked to be freed from his scholarship and after being cleared applied to Idaho. Josh Halmmann happily allowed him in.

"He has been working out with the guys, it's hard to not have him this year but his talent is there. He has blazing speed, he will be a game changer come the 2014 season, expect big things out of him. I do and he puts a lot of pride in his game" Spoke Halmmann.

Dominique Blackman officially moved to halfback, after hearing of the upcoming quarterback battle and with the departure of Ryan Bass, the opportunity to be starting was more open in the halfback slot. Expect some wildcat play calls to be worked in with Blackman expected to win the starting halfback job.

Wideout Justin Veltung moved to tight end, in his fifth year of eligibility and absolutely buried on the wide receiver depth chart and hoping to hold onto his scholarship, the undersized Veltung moved to tight end, where he hopes to be a legitimate receiving threat on the two tight end sets.